Nutrition and immunity - lessons from COVID-19
Nutrition and immunity - lessons from COVID-19
This review will provide an overview of the immune system and then describe the effects of frailty, obesity, specific micronutrients, and the gut microbiota on immunity and susceptibility to infection including data from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) pandemic where relevant. A key role for the immune system is providing host defence against pathogens. Impaired immunity predisposes to infections and to more severe infections and weakens the response to vaccination. A range of nutrients, including many micronutrients, play important roles in supporting the immune system to function. The immune system can decline in later life and this is exaggerated by frailty. The immune system is also weakened with obesity, generalised undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, which all result in increased susceptibility to infection. Findings made during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic supportwhat was already known about the effects of ageing, frailty and obesity on immunity and susceptibility to infection. Observational studies made during the pandemic also support previous findings that multiple micronutrients including vitamins C, D and E, zinc and selenium and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids are important for immune health, but whether these nutrients can be used to treat those already with COVID-19, particularly if already hospitalised, is uncertain from current inconsistent or scant evidence. There is gut dysbiosis in patients with COVID-19 and studies with probiotics report clinical improvements in such patients. There is an inverse association between adherence to a heathy diet and risk of SARSCoV-2 infection and hospitalisation with COVID-19 which is consistent with the effects of individual nutrients and other dietary components. Addressing frailty, obesity and micronutrient insufficiency will be important to reduce the burden of future pandemics and nutritional considerations need to be a central part of the approach to preventing infections, optimising vaccine responses and promoting recovery from infection.
frailty, immune system, Immunity, infection, microbiota, mineral, obesity, vitamin
Calder, Philip C.
1797e54f-378e-4dcb-80a4-3e30018f07a6
Calder, Philip C.
1797e54f-378e-4dcb-80a4-3e30018f07a6
Calder, Philip C.
(2023)
Nutrition and immunity - lessons from COVID-19.
The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society.
(doi:10.1017/S0029665123004792).
Abstract
This review will provide an overview of the immune system and then describe the effects of frailty, obesity, specific micronutrients, and the gut microbiota on immunity and susceptibility to infection including data from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) pandemic where relevant. A key role for the immune system is providing host defence against pathogens. Impaired immunity predisposes to infections and to more severe infections and weakens the response to vaccination. A range of nutrients, including many micronutrients, play important roles in supporting the immune system to function. The immune system can decline in later life and this is exaggerated by frailty. The immune system is also weakened with obesity, generalised undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, which all result in increased susceptibility to infection. Findings made during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic supportwhat was already known about the effects of ageing, frailty and obesity on immunity and susceptibility to infection. Observational studies made during the pandemic also support previous findings that multiple micronutrients including vitamins C, D and E, zinc and selenium and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids are important for immune health, but whether these nutrients can be used to treat those already with COVID-19, particularly if already hospitalised, is uncertain from current inconsistent or scant evidence. There is gut dysbiosis in patients with COVID-19 and studies with probiotics report clinical improvements in such patients. There is an inverse association between adherence to a heathy diet and risk of SARSCoV-2 infection and hospitalisation with COVID-19 which is consistent with the effects of individual nutrients and other dietary components. Addressing frailty, obesity and micronutrient insufficiency will be important to reduce the burden of future pandemics and nutritional considerations need to be a central part of the approach to preventing infections, optimising vaccine responses and promoting recovery from infection.
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Accepted/In Press date: 15 October 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 October 2023
Additional Information:
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
frailty, immune system, Immunity, infection, microbiota, mineral, obesity, vitamin
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 483441
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/483441
ISSN: 0314-1004
PURE UUID: 55030be8-f045-4a1b-8a8b-d4fbeae847ee
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Date deposited: 31 Oct 2023 17:32
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:41
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